English vicar Dr. Syn becomes a scarecrow on horseback by night to thwart King George III's taxmen.
Acting
McGoohan's smoldering restraint—vicar by day, chaos agent by night.
Practical Effects
The scarecrow costume: genuinely unnerving horse-riding nightmare fuel.
Direction
Neilson's marsh-set chases—mist, hooves, and taxmen eating dirt.
Director
James Neilson
Patrick McGoohan
Dr. Christopher Syn / The Scarecrow
George Cole
Mr. Sexton Mipps / Hellspite
Tony Britton
Simon Bates
Michael Hordern
Squire Thomas Banks
Geoffrey Keen
General Pugh
Kay Walsh
Mrs. Waggett
Eric Pohlmann
King George III
Patrick Wymark
Joseph Ransley
Alan Dobie
Mr. Frank Fragg - Prosecutor
Sean Scully
John Banks / The Curlew
Eric Flynn
Lt. Philip Brackenbury
David Buck
Harry Banks
Percy Herbert
Dover Castle Jailer
Robert Brown
Sam Farley
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on Russell Thorndike's 1915 novels, this was Disney's attempt to replicate their Zorro success with British folklore—complete with McGoohan fresh off 'Danger Man.'
The scarecrow design terrified test audiences; Disney briefly considered softening it before McGoohan insisted the horror was the point. He was right.
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